Wired4Hire Week Seven

Posted on 27. Aug, 2010 by ggunn in Blog

The members of the Wired4Hire Career Alliance continue to Impress, Awe, and Inspire

Kathy Banks, Donna Herman and Jan Stewart

Remember the final scene from Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts replies to Richard Gere, “She saved him right back”. A similar situation recently played out for me, but instead of two movie stars and a fire escape- my venue was the back corner of Panera Bread in Flemington New Jersey, and an amazing network on individuals that comprise Wired4Hire. For those who might not know, Wired4Hire is a program designed by MGD Services to support individuals in job transition. The concept of Wired4Hire is a forum to channel years of placement experience to job seekers. To this end the program has dramatically succeeded. In the first seven weeks of the program over 75% of the original group has found employment. We’ve covered traditional job search strategies. We are almost militant in our approach to the necessity of promoting and protecting our personal brand and yes, we preach networking, networking, and networking.

So it was a pleasant change of pace yesterday, when we took a moment to step back from all that training and hard work to focus on an unfamiliar topic in a group of individuals seeking employment.

Joy.

We started with the easy places to find joy: The joy of an inspirational song, elation after exercise, the delight in a child’s proffered first flower, and the bliss of a supportive spouse. No we weren’t hugging and crying or dancing in circles, we were simply, and subtly, changing our mental perceptions. And then an interesting and unexpected thing happened. Oh, how I wish I could say that this was my plan – it wasn’t. Members started applying concept of joy to their job search progression.

One person described how after three months of engaging with a company he was invited in for an interview. However, he had absolutely no idea of what the job entailed. He started the conversation with his frustration in being sent into a situation where he could easily fail. I mean really fail he was meeting with a senior VP and this position ultimately reported to the CIO. He had no concrete information from which to prepare. However, he was not without skills. While he didn’t have a job description, he knew the names of those with whom he was interviewing. He researched them, using some of the techniques we discussed in earlier sessions. He had one advantage. He had previously worked at the company in a different location. Therefore he knew the technologies being used and he made some educated guesses. Guesses that proved to be very close to the mark. He still isn’t sure he “nailed” the interview. But we, as a group, knew that he nailed what part of the process he could control. By the time we were done discussing this – he was feeling pleased with his preparation and determination to succeed…. Perhaps even a little Joyful of how genuinely impressed we were with him.

So how does Julie Roberts play into this? Well – I’m no Julia Roberts. The closest I may ever come to that ray of brilliance is a big smile that I usually can’t resist sharing. I was smiling ear to ear by the time the group was done pumping each other up. The group realized that each and every one of them – have taken ownership of their job search and are working so hard that they are becoming fearful that they are not getting enough results from their efforts. This session gave each person a chance to air their fears and frustrations and to realize that maybe – just maybe they are being a little too hard on themselves.

Now that’s something I can relate to. As they were sharing, I confess my mind started wandering. I have two significant proposals in the works and I’m short staffed at the moment. Suddenly I had an ah-ha moment. Who better to support me on these projects than this group?

So I asked for help. Incidentally this is advice I give every session. Long story short: One member has provided me with two case studies I need for one of the reports. One marketing expert is going to take my data and help me format it into a glossy special report. Another marketing phenomenon will be updating another presentation for next Wednesday, and finally the gentleman who prepared so beautifully for his interview and who is also a web wizard be setting up special sign-in section for our website for an upcoming assessment program we are going to be offering clients. And that’s how this Wired4Hire moderator was saved right back.

And while I leave you to think about that wonderful story, please enjoy some pictures from last week’s Wired4Hire on location adventure at Gunn Creek Farm were the group participated in mock interviews and had professional head shots taken. Have a great weekend and may you find some joy in your daily activities!